Matt's Monday Night RAW Recap - 3/30/2015

It's not quite real to me yet. The rest of the pics and recaps are coming.

In
any case, I was actually AT RAW tonight and...well, it was insane. The
crowd went from nuts to batshit crazy gradually -- but when the fans
lost their shit, I'm honestly surprised the show wasn't delayed. I
really thought it would be by the time Seth Rollins began yelling at the
crowd during The Wave.

Yes. Somebody actually decided to start a Wave.

That was just the beginning.

For those who got to hear the audio team fucking with the audio on the show, you might have missed these gems:

"YOU
SUCK CENA" (No...they didn't say this to Cena...they said it to Nikki
Bella during the Divas match, causing Nikki to point her finger to the
ceiling and say something to Nattie. They high-fived...so the crowd
decided to pick on Nattie...)

"WE DON'T LIVE HERE" (When Lillian Garcia advertised the tickets for the next San Jose RAW event.)

"ASSHOLE" (When Miz attacked Miz-dow

"WORSE THAN CENA" (To Roman Reigns)

"PLEASE RETIRE" (To Big Show, who just shrugged it off and kept moving without missing a beat.)

"LESNAR'S GONNA KIIIIIL YOOOOU..." (To Seth Rollins when he came out to face Lesnar)

"WE'RE SO AWESOME" (The Smark crowd, patting themselves on the back)

That's off the top of my head. There were several more.

Let's move...

We are LIVE(!!!) from my hometown in San Jose, California!!!

JBL, Cole and Booker are the guys on the mics.

Brock
comes out to a huge pop (I mean, HUGE...the roof practically blew off)
and has Paul Heyman with him. Heyman calls Lesnar "the biggest
ass-kicker of the PG era". He says that Lesnar did nothing but suplex
the shit out of Reigns. The Smark crowd starts their first chant:
"SUPLEX CITY". Heyman corrects them: "Or...as my client said -- Suplex
City...BITCH!". He recaps how Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank
contract and stole the title. He's pissed and says that the rules
weren't clear and that he can go down to Sacramento, go to the 7th
Circuit Court, have the decision reversed, and hold WWE up in litigation
for months. But, he doesn't wanna do that because Lesnar thinks all
lawyers are scumbags. So, that's not happening. Instead, all Lesnar
wants to do is move on and invoke his rematch clause...and that's
happening TONIGHT.

Steph comes out and recaps how great
WrestleMania was tonight. The crowd chants "Ronda Rousey". Steph tells
them if they want the re-match, they should all shut up. She insults
Lesnar and says that Rollins kicked him around, too. She says that
Rollins will be here soon -- and when he gets here, Lesnar and Heyman
will find that he's up for the challenge.

Heyman says
that he has a prediction: Lesnar will destroy Rollins and Lesnar will,
once again. be the reigning, defending, undisputed WWE World Heavyweight
Champion.

TONIGHT: John Cena issues an open challenge for anyone who wants the U.S. Championship, the Christmas fruitcake of the WWE Championship case.

ALSO: Daniel Bryan defends the IC Title against Dolph Ziggler.

MATCH #1: Dolph Ziggler (challenger) vs. Daniel Bryan (champion) for the WWE Intercontinental Championship
The
crowd inside the Shark Tank was already blowing the fuck up. The first
minute is, basically, the two of them trying to lock up and get a grip
on one another while the crowd tries a LET'S GO BRYAN/ZIGGLER chant.
Nothing happens for the next 30 seconds and the crowd is already
yelling, "THIS IS AWESOME" when it clearly isn't "awesome" at all yet,
so this is the type of crowd these guys dealt with. Bryan hits the
Surfboard, prompting Cole to name-drop Half Moon Bay because that's a
place where you can SURF, BRO. When we come back from break, Bryan nails
Ziggler with a running dropkick. The two brawl in the corner and Bryan
manages to hit a Super Side Suplex from the top rope. Two count. Yes
Kicks but Bryan misses the Roundhouse. Ziggler rolls him up for two. The
two fight for a backslide pin and Bryan ends up heading into the
turnbuckle. Ziggler hits a Superkick, countering the Flying Knee. He
NEARLY gets the fall. Both men get up and do the mutual headbutt spot
from last night. Bryan eventually knocks Ziggler away and hits the
Running Knee at 11:52 for the win.WINNER AND STILL CHAMPION: Daniel BryanRATING: **. The match was better when it wasn't interrupted. There was more to it than this.

Post-match,
Barrett gets in the ring to beat up Daniel Bryan -- but Sheamus comes
out, sporting a mohawk and beard dreadlocks. He fights off Barrett and
checks on Ziggler. The crowd doesn't care and they shit all over him and
this spot. Sheamus dares Barrett to get in the ring -- then attacks
Bryan because, surprise, he's a heel. He takes out Ziggler with the
Brogue as the crowd chants, "YOU LOOK STUPID". Sheamus just feeds off it
and tells them bring more. He grabs a mic and says, "I'm back." Then he
leaves.

COMING UP: Brock Lesnar faces Seth Rollins.

ALSO: A look at how Arnold and Nash were more important than Randy Savage.

AND: Sting will show up and spin the fact that he lost at WM 31 is a good thing.

When we come back, we run through the Hall of Fame stuff and it's on to the next match...MATCH
#2: The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston) (w/ Xavier Woods) &
Lucha Dragons (Kalisto & Sin Cara) vs. WWE Tag Team Champions Cesaro
& Tyson Kidd (w/ Natalya) & The Ascension (Konnor & Viktor)
in an 8-Man Tag Team Match
Sin Cara and Cesaro start off and
Sin Cara tries to flip all over Cesaro, only to end up in a Flipping
Backbreaker. Tag to Kalisto and he flips all over Cesaro like a fucking
stripper pole, tossing him across the ring with a Hurricarana. Crowd
lost their shit over this and starts chanting "NEW DAY SUCKS". Kofi and
Konnor get in and battle. Kofi knees him in the gut and it's back to Sin
Cara with an "NXT" chant as if they're just going down some sort of
"chant list" handed to them at the door. When we come back, Cesaro is in
the ring while the crowd does the "Ole" soccer chant. He beats on Sin
Cara and tags Konnor who eats an Enzuguri. Tag to Kofi and the crowd
shits all over him as he goes A-House-A-Fire on Konnor. Tag to Tyson and
he gets hit with a Cross Body. Two count. Cesaro nails Kofi with an
uppercut. Viktor tags himself in and that pisses off Cesaro. Kofi tags Kalisto who flips around like Mary Lou Retton on Jolt, nails Konnor and
gets a two count. Cesaro saves the pin and it's Spot-a-palooza by every
single guy until Kalisto ends it with the Salina Del Sol for the win at
10:04.WINNERS: The Faces.RATING: ***. Actually, this was good because Lucha Dragons looked like the only team that wanted to be there.

Brock
comes out for the championship rematch. Rollins is out next -- and he
actually taunts Lesnar with the belt. Lillian announces them...but when
the match is about to begin, Seth bails from the ring. He says he's
feeling jetlagged, which makes sense since Levi's Stadium is about 5
miles from SAP by freeway. He's pulling the rematch. Lesnar doesn't
accept. He grabs Rollins and tries a German but Rollins lands on his
feet and runs again. Lesnar chases and tries an F5 but J&J save him.
Rollins gets away. Lesnar flips the announcer desk on top of Cole, JBL
and Booker. He destroys some ringside staff, then grabs Cole as Cole
runs for his life. Heyman begs Brock to let him go but Brock's
inconsolable and hits an F5 on Cole, much to the delight of the crowd.
He grabs a camera guy next and goes for an F5.

This
prompts Steph to run out and stop Brock. Brock doesn't listen and F5's
the camera guy. Steph suspends Lesnar and walks off. Crowd chants
"BULLSHIT" as this entire segment was worth the show. We see the damage
Brock has left behind as EMT's hit ringside to help a dead Booker and
JBL.

When we come back, Cole is being loaded on a stretcher while Booker is waking a bit. JBL is still out.

We get clips from MOMENTS AGO when Brock unleashed hell following Rollins' escape.

Backstage,
Steph is walking. Renee interrupts her and wants her to explain why she
just suspended Brock Lesnar. Steph says that Lesnar's still an employee
and he will get his rematch. She says that he's just suspended -- and
she'll fine him, too. She says Brock isn't going back to MMA, either.
He's under contract and she owns "that summabitch".

TONIGHT: John Cena begs someone, ANYONE to take his new toy belt. Seriously, he'll lay down and let them have it.

When we come back, Byron Saxton is all that's left of Brockpocalypse. He'll be doing commentary solo from here on out.MATCH #3: Stardust vs. Damien Mizdow
Mizdow is still "Miz"-dow despite turning on Miz? Mm-kay. Miz-dow
takes his sunglasses off and clotheslines Stardust. Miz-dow basically
runs through Miz's moveset until Stardust kicks at him and hits a Front
Suplex. Crowd chants "CODY" and cheers Miz-dow -- though Miz-dow's
fandom is noticeably diminished. Star goes for a backbreaker but gets
hit on a counter by the SCF. Miz-dow wins at 2:23.WINNER: Damien Miz-dowRATING: DUD. And, now, we find out if the fans truly care about Miz-dow.

LAST NIGHT: The Rock and Ronda Rousey confronted Steph and Triple H at WrestleMania. Highlights from that next.

We get the clips we're promised, then a nice media package showing our local print and television media covering WrestleMania.

Curtis
Axel is in the ring. Axelmania, this. Axelmaniaxs, that. Ax-streme
Rules is also now a thing. Neville debuts in case you wanna get to the
part you care about. The match doesn't even begin and Neville attacks
him, tossing Axel from the ring and flying right on top of him. MATCH #4: Curtis Axel vs. Neville
Once
back in the ring, Neville hits some flying lariats and some quick
kicks. Crowd loves it. The Red Arrow wins it at 1:11. "Wow," says Saxton
with all the excitement of a Speak n' Spell.WINNER: NevilleRATING: DUD, but Neville's badass.

NEXT: John Cena faces the guy who reluctantly wants to try for the goofy 'Murica belt.

We
come back from break and Byron explains that Brock is the reason we're
hearing him instead of JBL and Cole arguing about Frodo.

Out
comes Cena as the crowd boos him back to the Stone Age, singing "JOHN
CENA SUUUUUUCKS". We take a look at clips of Rusev and Cena at
WrestleMania last night. Cena says the crowd will hear about
WrestleMania Moments all night long. Cena says that the crowd in San
Jose is the best audience of the year. They actually pop. He calls them
all, "budding musicians". This prompts the crowd to sing his theme song.
He tells them that, if they believe that, they're gonna have an issue
with this next one: THE CHAMP IS HERE! He says he's "dressed like Johnny
Cash" (he's wearing all black, so that's valid, folks...he's just like Johnny Cash) and he puts out his challenge.

And out comes...

Dean Ambrose!

MATCH #5: John Cena (champion) vs. Dean Ambrose (challenger) for the WWE United States Championship
Ambrose
and Cena trade a couple of spots and, instantly, Byron sends us on our
commercial break because we didn't want to see this match anyway. When
we come back, King's with us because Byron's about to break down in
tears and, suddenly, this is CNN live from New Orleans following
Hurricane Katrina. If anyone can explain why the desk is still on its
side, please let me know. And somebody get these guys chairs. My fucking
feet hurt watching them stand up. Cena hits moves 1 through 3 and
Ambrose kicks him. He tries the Rebound Clothesline but Cena ducks and
hits #3 again. He hits #4 and goes for an AA which Ambrose breaks from
and counters with a Sunset Flip for two. Ambrose hits a horribly delayed
and telegraphed Rebound Clothesline but Cena, being the good guy he is,
eats it anyhow. He tries Dirty Deeds but Cena stops it. The two trade
BOO/YAY punches, then end up in the corner where Ambrose hits a Tornado
DDT for a two count. Cena ends up outside and Ambrose nails him from the
top buckle. They both roll into the ring and, suddenly, Super Cena is
up and hitting an AA for two. The two end up fighting near the corner
and Ambrose botches a Falling Sunset Flip. He pulls Cena down but Cena
counters and hits the STF. Ambrose breaks it, so Cena goes for an AA.
Ambrose breaks that and hits a pseudo-STF. Cena tries for the ropes so
Ambrose breaks the hold and pulls Cena back to the center of the ring.
Cena kicks at Ambrose and tries another AA. Ambrose counters with Dirty
Deeds and NEARLY gets the pin. Cena and Ambrose trade shots again. About
7 AA counters later and Cena finally hits an AA, retaining at 14:20,
after countering a crossbody by Ambrose.WINNER AND STILL CHAMPION: John Cena via AARATING: ***. Not bad...but can we stop pretending Cena's suddenly a little indie mid-carder?

LAST NIGHT: It was Suplex City, bitch, hefore Seth Rollins cashed in and won the match.

Renee
Young speaks with Seth Rollins backstage. He thinks that Brock Lesnar
is out of control. He got what he deserved. Orton shows up and reminds
Rollins that he beat Rollins at WrestleMania last night. He wants
Rollins' title...but Kane and Big Show show up to stop this noise real
quick. Rollins says he'll face Orton -- in a tag match. He wants Orton
to find two guys to face the three of them at the end of the night.
Orton doesn't look happy.
AJ Lee heads to the ring as we go to break.

MATCH
#6: AJ Lee, Paige, & Naomi vs. Natalya & The Bella Twins (Brie
& WWE Divas Champion Nikki Bella) in a 6-Diva Tag Team Match
Nattie
and Naomi begin the thing. Nattie escapes head scissors which looks
like it would hurt if Naomi held on tighter to Nattie's neck. Naomi hits
a sitting dropkick after rubbing her ass in Nattie's nose (DON'T DO
THAT TO NATTIE! IT'S ALL SEXUAL AND FLIRTY AND STUFF!!!) Tag to Brie as
the crowd chants for Paige. Brie puts Naomi in an armbar, then arm drags
her to the mat. Naomi escapes and tags Paige. Paige hits headbutts and
dumps Brie to the mat. Two count. Brie calls Paige a "loser", so Paige
dives at her and both girls are outside the ring. It's a standoff
between the remaining Divas as we go to commercial. It's Nattie and AJ
when we come back. AJ breaks a submission move but Nattie kicks her and
suplexes AJ for two. Nikki comes into the match and puts a chinlock on
AJ who the crowd actually gets behind instead of mocking. AJ breaks the
hold and runs to her corner but Nikki blocks her and dumps her to the
mat. Two count. Naomi and Paige scream for a tag, so Nikki nails Naomi
with a forearm and goes back to work on AJ with a Crosslock. AJ breaks
and Nikki runs at Naomi and Paige, swinging with forearms. She gets to
Paige but misses Naomi. Hot tag to Naomi and she hits Nikki with a high
kick and crossbody. Nikki manages to counter a head scissors off the
buckle and dumps Naomi to the mat. Paige saves the pin and it's a melee
as Nattie hits SUPLEX CITY BITCH on Paige. The ring clears with Naomi in
between Nikki and Brie. Nikki goes for her forearm -- but hits Brie
instead. Naomi hits the Rear View to get the win at 13:07.WINNERS: The facesRATING: **1/2. Not a bad Divas tag. They're finally starting to take that roster seriously.

MOMENTS AGO: Brock destroyed everyone and everything.

Orton is backstage. Ryback shows up and he wants to be a part of Orton's team. Orton accepts.THIS THURSDAY ON SMACKDOWN: Dolph Ziggler & Daniel Bryan face Sheamus and Bad News Barrett.

ALSO ON SMACKDOWN: Orton, Cena and Reigns will all be there.

Michael Cole apparently has a "cervical fracture"...so treasure these brief weeks when we won't hear him speak.

MATCH
#8: Kane, Big Show, & WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins
vs. Randy Orton, Ryback & Roman Reigns in a 6-Man Tag Team Match
Kane
and Ryback start out. Ryback eats a boot in the corner. Rollins gets
involved and he gets sent outside. Break again, even though we're
nearing the end of the show. Orton is beating on Kane, then tags Ryback
as the crowd is insanely restless at this point, chanting ANYTHING that
comes to mind. Rollins tags in and he's all over Orton with kicks in the
corner. He sends Orton into the other corner but Orton comes back with a
clothesline and punches at Rollins in the other corner. Crowd begins a
"BREEZE IS GORGEOUS" chant and then a "HOW YA' DOIN'" chant. Tag to Show
and the crowd chants "PLEASE RETIRE". Show laughs and just drops elbows
on Orton. He slaps Orton's chest and tags Kane. Kane hits a snapmare as
the crowd chants "SAN JOSE", then "WE WANT RYBACK". Orton beats on Kane
but then runs into a boot. The Wave starts in the crowd and Rollins
cannot believe his eyes. The cameraman follows the wave around, making
the entire audience fucking seasick and, finally, the match continues.
Rollins splashes Orton in the corner, then yells at the crowd. A "CM
PUNK" chant begins as Rollins grabs Orton's neck in the corner. Orton
fights out as the crowd chants, "WE ARE AWESOME". Reigns gets the hot
tag and he hits a Samoan Drop on Kane. He takes out Show, then
clotheslines Kane in the corner. Reigns goes for a neckbreaker, then
changes his mind and hits Kane in the head. He goes for the Superman
Punch. Show grabs him instead. Reigns escapes and hits a Superman Punch.
Show runs over Reigns. Ryback hits a Shell Shock on Show. Curb Stomp to
Ryback by Rollins. The ring clears and it's Reigns behind Rollins.
Reigns goes for a Spear. Rollins dodges it and runs. Kane attacks
Reigns, only to eat an RKO from Orton. Reigns gets the pin at 13:00 and
we're done.WINNERS: The faces.RATING: **. The crowd killed most of this.

Post-match, it's a heel/face staredownas we go off the air.

OVERALL:
**1/2 stars. Brock signs a new contract and he's probably not gonna be
on much. Meanwhile, it was just a "pile of bodies" show with 20 people
involved in three decent matches. Everyone seems so misused lately.

Unfortunately, no best-of-Monday Night Open Mic this week. Too much to recap. See you next week.

Totally agree. It got to the point where the mother and kid next to me were getting annoyed. There was some asshole smark lemming behind me who would assess what everyone was saying and repeat it like a fucking drone.

I heard a ton of them were partying in San Jose's bars throughout the weekend. Regret going drinking this weekend. Although, a friend of mine saw Randy Orton near Santana Row and he wouldn't give him the time of day.

Okay, I might get killed for this, but I'm gonna anyway. I deleted it once, but I want to know what people think.

Givedivasachance apparently, to the biggest crowd of smarks the WWE will see all year, means 'when they're allowed to work an actual match, let's shower them with blowjob jokes as opposed to actually paying attention and giving them a chance.'

I had a female friend at Raw last night, and while I wouldn't say she was offended (she's what we in the business call 'a tough bitch'), she definitely was disappointed in that crowd.

Was it the best women's match this year? Hell, it wasn't the best women's match this month, but that hardly seems like the point. They gave the Divas 13 minutes and two segments to work with, and they did a pretty decent job with that time, to be honest.

The crowd treated them like a joke when they finally got a chance. Give divas a chance, indeed.

My biggest issue with the whole thing is that this wasn't some podunk crowd in Nebraska (I feel okay saying this, as I live in Nebraska); this was a crowd of people who were, on average, smarter than the average bear. Surely, they would be more respectful to something that I would assume many of them purported to support, at least online.

No-one's a decent human being in the entertainment business whether it's from the fans/viewers or people in the business. For instance if a movie sucks, other people (viewers/critics) are going to let you know about it. They're not going to be nice just because the director tried his best to make a good movie. The entertainment business is a harsh one, and the successful people learn to grow a thick skin early on.

Good on ECW. that's a line crossed anyway. Yelling at women that they suck dick? What's so "smart" about that? I'll be That Guy, and say it crossed the into total loser-virgin mysogny, straight-up. Shame on them.

I highly doubt any of the wrestlers were actually shocked\offended\aghast at the shenanigans. They know full well what the post-WM crowd is going to do, and if they're smart they play it up and enjoy it.

I was thinking about searching this Raw out to see the whole thing, as opposed to the 90 minute version on Hulu, but it just doesn't sound worth it to me. I'll assume I get Brock killing everyone, Sheamus returning, John Cena defending America and the main event. Sounds like it was a stacked show.

Pretty sure when the WWE encouraged and commercialized the concept of After-WM Raw crowds coming up with creative chants, what they had in mind wasn't a shitty third-rate impression of the mutants and mongoloids that filled a warehouse under a highway overpass in Philly in 1998.

Fuck every single person who started or joined one of those abhorrent and gross chants last night. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

You know, this is a typical PC double standard. There's no doubt in my mind that at least some of them do, in fact, suck dick. Why is it offensive? If you chanted 'you eat (lady bits)' at me, I'd just be like.... ok. Yeah, so?

Because it was *meant* to be offensive. I'm not the one with the double standard. Why didn't they chant "You eat Nikki" or something at Cena or whomever? Because the "You suck dick" chants come from the mysognistic position of "these divas are all whores". That's the double standard. Guys are guys, and women are cocksucking whores.

I'm trying to remember an instance where fans chanted 'you suck dick' at a male wrestler. I'm sure it's happened, but can't remember when, most likely Shawn got that chant in the early 90s and I didn't see anyone rushing to Shawn's defense.

I'm not even that offended so much as I am disappointed. There is a difference. They saw fit to give the Divas 13 minutes to wrestle in front of one of the tougher crowds of the year, but also what one would expect to be one of the more receptive non-NXT crowds of the year, and the crowd decided to not give two shits. Yet, I wonder how many of them were re-tweeting #givedivasachance last week? Would they have started any of those chants for Charlotte? Sasha? Bayley?

I agree with Tom that some would find it funny. That's why I'm not really all that offended - but to ask online to give these women a chance to show what they can do, and then to crap all over the match when they get that chance kind of sucks, you know? Especially considering that the match was pretty dandy in most spots.

Like you said, the women were given a death spot to perform in front of one of the toughest crowds of the year. Wrestling fans are equal opportunity haters. They hate divas the same way they hate Big Show. I'm not saying divas don't deserve a chance, but it's going to take a long time to reeducate the fans so fans can take it seriously. The divas aren't suddenly going to be given respect just because WWE decides to give them more time. If WWE is serious about this then it's going to at least take a couple of years to change the average fan's perception of divas.

Had trouble making out a lot of the chants, plus I skip forward a lot, so wasn't aware of the chants at the women. Unfortunately not surprised a few people here don't seem to understand why chanting "you suck (whatever)" at a female wrestler is a terrible thing to do.

But as was pointed out, these weren't the 'average' fan. I would think that one of the reasons that the divas got 13 minutes out there is because the crowd would be expected to be more receptive precisely because they are the type of smarks that were out there on the #givedivasachance stuff. A crowd in my hometown reacting that way would, sadly, not surprise me. A crowd composed of a bunch of super-smarks? Yeah, I was kind of surprised.

He's saying, and I think this is correct, is that history has shown that one of the reasons the the night after mania raws are traditionally difficult/unruly crowds of smarks is that you have a large confluence of dedicated wrestling fans all in one place for the only time all year, so as such, if they want to avoid that type of crowd, they should just go as far away from said crowd as possible.

Now explain how you reconcile this idea with the fact that two years ago, the chants that made the company notice that post-WM are rowdy and raucous never chanted anything as gross and repugnant as last night?

They want the chants. They don't want chants like YOU SUCK DICK and considering that such chants are not part and parcel of post-WM crowds, that is not unreasonable.

Dude, seriously, take like 20 minutes and really think about this. That has NEVER happened, and never will. Ask yourself why that is. Once you start down this road you'll come to understand what is so wrong about those chants.

They only chant it at women and gay men. Do you really think there's not a very specific (and sinister) reason behind that?

It's a misleading question, dude. The point is that the chant *wasn't* made, not what would happen if it was. The crowd wouldn't reduce a straight male performer to nothing more than a sex act they perform.

Here is the problem with the Brock contract. He was already way over and then last night....maybe the most over guy in the company and now we won't see him till what? summerslam? I'm not against him being gone a little while but It's a shame that they a guy that is on fire right now getting mainstream attention...and now he is gone..for months.

We are awesome chant? Yuck. That crowd sucked for the most part. The Mania crowd was awesome. The Raw crowd sucked their own dicks it's just a shame they didn't have a chant prepared to inform us who they sucked.

Considering that plenty of people (and plenty of wrestling fans) can blow off steam without indulging in gross, inexcusable chanting at women based purely on their gender, I can and totally will judge those who do.

You believe that chanting "YOU SUCK DICK" at women who are strangers to you is good for keeping people civil during interactions with others.

I would agree the dick sucking chants were pretty tasteless and dumb. However for the most part I am on the side of the fans paid to be there they can do what they want. So no I don't think the women should have been singled out but be it CM Punk chants or please retire....I'm fine with it. Some where along the way what the live audience should and should not be has whittled down to a very narrow expectation. They get bitched at if they are too dead..they get bitched at if they are too loud...They get bitched at if they are to mark..they get bitched at if they are too smark.

That definitely is a part of the problem, yeah. Encouraging people to be creative is always dicey, because not many people are.

Still, I think anyone halfway reasonable with any sense of decency and propriety would prefer to chant and hear "RAN DY SAV AGE" again over something that should have been left in the bingo hall a decade and a half ago.

I'm not saying it's right but there is a difference between chanting "you suck Tyson" at Nattie and chantig "you suck Bret" at Sunny back in 1997. They're both wrong, but one is more wrong than the other.

The crowd last year is the high water mark. I'm sure they had some smarky chants at some points but mostly they were just incredibly hot and into the show. Last year's crowd should be in a Hall of Fame.

Haven't been keeping up with the news... any word on if Brock's new deal has more dates than his old one? Basically I'm wondering if Brock just got written out of the show until it's time to build to Summerslam.

I was more upset that they didn't improvise - Cena just sat there and waited for Ambrose to get up and hit the move. You can easily play off a botch into looking like Ambrose made a mistake and Cena capitalized.

I think his reaction made it look worse, too. Instead of going with the flow and just doing something else (jump and punch his back or something) he just looked a bit panicked and then ran back to the position he was meant to be in.

Otherwise it was a great match, though. I honestly thought, for just half a second, they might actually pull the trigger and let him go over, which would have torn the roof off the place.

Moment of the entire weekend: Brock tries a German on Seth and Seth backflips out of it and lands on his feet and hits an enzugiri on Brock. To which Brock no sells and gives Seth a look of death and Seth scurries away.

I don't even know if theyll have a match ever but I've already given it *****

If they had a normal office job then yes I'd tell them to report it, but if they were in the entertainment business and that was the worst thing that ever happened to them then I think they got off lightly.